Vitamin B12 and vitamin B12 binding proteins in liver diseases

Serum vitamin B12 and vitamin B12 binding proteins (transcobalamins, TCS) were determined in patients with malaria, amoebic liver abscess, carcinoma of the liver, infectious hepatitis, cirrhosis and chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) as well as in 60 blood donor subjects. Serum vitamin B12 in patients with infectious hepatitis, cirrhosis and CML were higher than that of the normal subjects. The values of unsaturated vitamin B12 binding capacity (UBBC) in patients with carcinoma of the liver, infectious hepatitis, cirrhosis were lower while that of patients with CML were higher than that of the normal subjects. A markedly increased TCI and decreased TCII was observed in patients with CML while these changes was much less in patients with other liver diseases. The difference was possibly due to a flooding of vitamin B12 from damaged liver cells into the circulation and the decreased synthesis of transcobalamins in patients with liver diseases while the increased granulocytes, the source of TCI, was much increased in patients with CML.